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Woelk: Poise helps Buffs get off to good start
DENVER -- For a little while, at least, Sunday night's Colorado-Colorado State matchup looked like it would follow the script written for the last six years.
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You know the one. Close ballgame right down to the end, with one or two plays making the difference. The winning team goes home breathing a sigh of relief and the losing team heads up the highway thinking about what might have been.
But on this night, the team with better players -- and more of them -- overcame its mistakes and left little doubt. Favored to win by 11, Dan Hawkins' Buffs very nearly doubled that number. Despite a raft of mistakes (try eight penalties and two turnovers), the Buffs opened the season on a solid note by collecting their fifth win in the last six games in the series.
If you're a Colorado fan, you have to like the poise the Buffs showed. Dan Hawkins' Buffs had ample opportunity to tighten up and let the Rams back in the game, but every time the Rams started to pull close, the Buffs had an answer.
If you're a CSU fan ... well, you give the Rams credit for not checking it in early, particularly after Colorado opened up a 21-7 lead on a93-yard kickoff return. Then you thank your lucky stars you are playing in the Mountain West.
What's quite clear is that momentum in this rivalry has found a home on CU's sidelines. The Buffs won this game with solid play from a sophomore quarterback, some big plays from a sophomore wide receiver and a good all-around defensive effort that included just enough big plays from underclassmen to make the future bright. Colorado's program has the appearance of one headed toward better days.
The Rams, meanwhile, lost a game starting a fifth-year senior quarterback and a pair of senior running backs. New head coach Steve Fairchild said he liked his team's effort, but the rebuilding effort in CSU is clearly not going to be accomplished overnight. The Rams were a step behind all evening, and it will take Fairchild a couple of recruiting classes to even begin to close what has all the looks of a sizable talent gap.
The Buffs were by no means perfect in their opener. They killed two drives with turnovers, and ended a handful more with silly penalties.
A year ago, that might have been enough to send Hawkins' team into a tailspin for the night. One needs only to remember what happened when mistakes derailed them against Iowa State and Kansas, two games in which the Buffs had third-quarter leads, only to let them slip through their fingers.
But when those situations arose Sunday night, the Buffs shrugged their shoulders at their misfortune -- even when self-inflicted -- and regained control. They did it late in the first half by stopping a potential game-tying drive from CSU with an interception, then again with a scoring drive to open the second half.
And, when CSU answered with one more punch -- a field goal to cut the lead to 11 late in the third quarter -- the Buffs took the air out of the Rams' sails for good with an 18-play, 74-yard march that produced a field goal to bump their lead back up to 14 with just more than 10 minutes left in the game.
"That was a tremendous drive," allowed Fairchild. "We were hanging on, and then they put that long drive together. That kind of sealed it."
What Fairchild didn't mention was that the game-sealing drive gave CU fans their first real glimpse of freshman running back Darrell Scott. The prized recruit from California carried the ball just one time for 6 yards in the first half, but finished as CU's leading rusher with 11 carries for 54 yards. That includes five carries on the decisive drive, one of which was an 8-yard burst on fourth-and-2.
Expect to see more of Scott. On CU's final possession, he hammered out a 14-yard run on second-and-14, then leaped into the end zone from 1 yard out for CU's final score and his first touchdown as a Buff.
"Freshmen are still freshmen, no matter how highly touted they are," Dan Hawkins said. "You want to put them in a position for success if you can."
Other efforts worth noting?
Five sacks from a defensive line that had just 19 all of last season.
A terrific performance from wide receiver-return specialist Josh Smith, who proved he's a threat to score from anywhere on the field.
A brief glimpse of the electricity freshman running back Rodney Stewart can bring to the game (guaranteed you'll see more of Stewart).
A terrific defensive effort in making CSU tight end Kory Sperry a non-factor.
A big-hitting, big-play night from safety Ryan Walters, who has turned into a field general for the defense.
Yes, there were mistakes. But it's hard to be critical of 38 points and a 21-point margin of victory in a season opener against an in-state rival.
It's a start -- and not a bad one at that.
Posted by mgmtgrad on September 1, 2008 at 1:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Very happy with the second half effort to seal the game with a 21 point win over CSU. CSU is a team that seems to always play hard agianst the Buffs. Yet after half time the Buffs did enough right to win by a largest margin of victory over the last five years.
Yes there will be plenty for the team to work on over the next couple of weeks, but the coaches have more information on where improvment is needed.
Marcus J
Posted by Ralphie2 on September 1, 2008 at 6:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
YEAH BUFFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KEEP IT ROLLIN, BOYS!!!
GO BUFFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by extrapoint on September 1, 2008 at 7:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There were some bungles and the execution level at times wont win any big games, but then again it was the first game of the season.
The bright spots outweighed them considerably though. Cody spread the ball around. Devenney looked good and Celstine may be as fast as Scott.
Head didnt have the best game, but once again it takes a little time for an O line to gel, especially when the guard starters werent named until the last minute.
The pass D will be tested a lot more agisnt EW.
We get past that and we should be in decent shape for WV.
Posted by oz_in_cali on September 1, 2008 at 9:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Cody's looking stronger, making better decisions and showing more confidence in his teammates and himself. On a couple of ocassions he chose to throw it away and burn a play rather than force something stupid and create a turnover (like he did at times last season).
Josh Smith looked great except when he lost the handle on that initial punt.
Devenney showed some really nice hands, and seemed to to a nice job of getting open. Wasn't able to assess his blocking, but with that size he should at least be able to get in someone's way.
Scott and Stewart give us a lot to be excited about in the running game.
Finally, Scotty McKnight is looking like the second coming of John Minardi and Darrin Chaiverrini all rolled into one.
Future looks bright indeed! GO BUFFS!!!
Posted by bzainthemd on September 1, 2008 at 9:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
vkberlin fails to realize that even "great" teams who played week one against weaker (Div 1AA) teams than CSU had similar results. Georgia beat Georgia Southern by 24. Do they have a lot of work to do? WVU beat Villanova (horrible) by 27...do they have a lot of work to do? Texas Tech beat EWU by 25, do they have a lot of work to do?
My point is that CSU is a Div 1A team and instate rival and we beat them by 21. Yes, we didn't play our best and we have room to grow, but to win game 1 against a hated instate rival by 21 while not playing your best, that is not bad. Game 1 man. Not mid season. We are only getting better. Not a bad start at all. Go Buffs!
Posted by CUBuff2000 on September 1, 2008 at 10:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The penalties are my top concern, but I'll chalk that up to game 1. Overall, you have to be happy to see us beat CSU handily again-it's a sign that the Hawk is rising higher and higher, and his players are finally starting to take over the Colorado football program. Next week should serve as a great chance to tighten things up, improve on the no-huddle, and get us ready for West Virginia. Go Buffs!
Posted by TallyBuff on September 1, 2008 at 11:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
On the 5 sacks: most (all?) of them were coverage sacks. The good news: pass coverage was strong on a number of plays (though poor on many others). The bad news: the D-line was well blocked by CSU on passing plays for most of the game. I like the sacks, especially b/c of the coverage it displayed, but I want to see more pressure produced by the front four beating blocks. There were close to zero of those last night.
Posted by RWE on September 1, 2008 at noon (Suggest removal)
I agree - CU did a pretty good job. The rivarly factor is huge. People underestimate what CSU can do against CU, only because they bring everything they have to this game (sometimes maybe a little too much - seems like some years they play CU incredibly hard and then don't have anything left in the tank for any other games). Plus they have some obviously talented running backs (they could have kept the game closer if they Johnson and Bell were used more, I think), and a great tight end (where was he? I remember only one play that he even caught a pass - if he was actually "shut down" but CU's defense, that's a huge statement. It seemed like they just didn't use him though). CU made a few mistakes, they weren't perfect, but they seemed to handle the ball better than they have in years. It's not just Devenny that has good hands. A few years ago, passes were dropped left and right by everybody. Now everybody's making catches. They'll make mistakes in the future, there will be more penalties and fumbles, but this team has talent. They'll do OK. I would be more optimistic, but the Big 12 is a lot tougher than it was even two years ago.
Posted by rodrigo on September 1, 2008 at 3:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wait a second... Are you seriously suggesting that the reason Sperry, arguably CSU's best player, didn't produce is because CSU ignored him?
What team on earth - especially one with as few weapons as CSU - would willingly game plan away from one of its only strengths? I don't know, but it seems more conceivable that the CU defensive game plan held him in check and the Buffs in general put the Rams in the position of playing catch-up, neutralizing the grind-it-out running approach. Think back a year: what almost beat CU? Sperry's three TDs and Bell running 40 times for bunches of green.
Guess it's those rose-colored glasses I wear but I think there is at least a slight possibility that CU's coaches - oh my goodness, say it aint so! - watched those tapes and put together a package to make sure it wouldn't happen again.
Posted by gkups on September 1, 2008 at 6:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
hi, where's the programs for this event! bush league. to much cody not enough running. i think its a sin to play college football on sunday! c.s,u. band looked classier than c.u. band. c.u. get some new uniforms. need a director with fire!
Posted by reallifeshocker on September 1, 2008 at 6:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
the offense appeared disorganized, sort of keystone-kop-ish. the defense must be more aggressive to the quarterback, and be able to really cover. could be a long season if this doesn't change.
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